Hagen

Hagen

Hagen, Johannes Georg, 1847-1930, American astronomer and mathematician, b. Austria. A Jesuit, he came in 1880 to the United States to teach. In 1888 he was made director of the astronomical observatory at Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C., where he remained until 1905. In 1906 he was called to Rome to be at the head of the Vatican Observatory. Much of his research and writing was devoted to the variable stars and to nebulae and cosmic clouds.

Hagen, Walter, 1892-1969, American golfer, b. Rochester, N.Y. Hagen won the U.S. Open championship in 1914 and again in 1919; he took the British Open title in 1922, 1924, 1928, and 1929. "The Haig," as he was known to his admirers, also won the U.S. Professional Golfers Association championship five times (1921, 1924-27), the Australian, Canadian, French, and Belgian open tournaments, and many other titles of lesser importance. He played on five Ryder Cup teams.

Hagen, city (1994 pop. 214,880), North Rhine-Westphalia, W Germany, on the Ennepe River. It is an industrial center in the Ruhr district. Its manufactures include iron and steel, chemicals, machinery, paper, and textiles. Hagen was chartered in 1746 and became famous for its textiles in the late 18th cent. Its main industrial growth dates from 1870. Devastated during World War II, the city was rebuilt with parks, theaters, and museums.

The growth of the city began in the 19th century with the mining of coal and the production of steel in the Ruhr Area. In 1928 Hagen became a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants. After World War II it became part of the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Economy

Owing to the extensive use of water power along the rivers Ruhr, Lenne, Volme and Ennepe, metal processing played an important role in the region of Hagen in and even before the 15th century.

In the 17th and 18th century, textile and steel industries as well as paper producing followed.

Hagen is the home of the Suedwestfaelische Industrie- und Handelskammer and a major hub of fohn production.

Attractions

Hagen is home to the Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum Hagen, or Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum, a collection of historic industrial facilities where trades such as printing, brewing, smithing, milling, and many others are represented not simply as static displays, but as living, working operations that visitors may in some cases even be invited to participate in. It is located in the Hagen community of Eilpe. The Historical Center contains the Museum of the City and the Werdringen castle. In the cave Blätterhöhle in Hagen the oldest fossils of modern people in Westphalia and the Ruhr Area were found. They are dated in the early Mesolithicum 10,700 years B.C.

Traffic

Hagen has been an important rail junction for the southeastern Ruhr valley since the first rail line opened in 1848. The shunting yard Hagen-Vorhalle is among Germany's largest, and the central station offers connections to the ICE network of Deutsche Bahn as well as to local and S-Bahn services. Since December 2005, Hagen is also the starting point for a new service into Essen, operated by Abellio Rail.

Local traffic is handled by Hagener Straßenbahn (Hagen Tramways), which, despite its name, offers only bus services as the last tramway in Hagen was put out of service in the 1970s. All local rail and bus services operate under the transport association VRR.